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Thursday, May 1, 2008

紆余曲折

うよきょくせつuyo kyokusetsu

Today's yo-ji doesn't really come from anything in particular. Rather, I just wanted to find a way to tie it into the video I'm going to post a little further down.

Uyo kyokusetsu is a combination of two words - the first means "meadering," and the second means "turning." It describes arriving at a point or a destination (or a conclusion) in a round-about manner. Therefore I translate it as:

1) taking the "scenic route" (figuratively)2) having twists and turns3) taking "your own path" on the way to a conclusion4) the vicissitudes in life (on the way to a conclusion)

I also want to note that this is different from the yo-ji that Brett translated as "the vicissitudes." How so? This is somewhat more neutral - its more horizontal than vertical. I think of it this way - 紆余曲折 means having twists and turns, while 七転八起 means more having ups and downs.

On to the example sentence.

「人生の意味」を探していろいろと紆余曲折したんだけど、この曲に出会って初めて分かった気がする。I had a lot of twists and turns searching for the "meaning of life," but now that this song has touched my life, I feel like I've gotten it for the first time.

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Living and working in Saga-ken, Kyushuu, dedicated to one day passing the 1-kyuu JLPT, and therefore being able to start on some other languages as well. Check out his Youtube Channel by clicking the picture!

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While questing in the Rocky Mountains - only hours away from Denver, his birthplace and home - Brett discovered a magical talisman that whisked him halfway around the world to the remote island of Kyushu. Now hellbent on either finding a way home or a time machine that'll let him go back in time hundreds of years to hang out with samurai, he hones his language skills by posting on the Daily Yoji and sharpens his combat skills by pummeling the elementary school children he teaches.

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